At the Australian and US Opens not only is there an extra day’s play – on the middle Sunday – but also a night session every day. The best matches, or those with particular local interest, tend to be scheduled in the evening, which can leave some day sessions decidedly bare, particularly towards the end of the tournament.

At the French Open there are no night sessions, but as well as the middle Sunday the tournament starts a day earlier than the other Grand Slam tournaments. The Sunday start was first tried in 2006 and has now become an accepted part of the Roland Garros programme, but it means that the first round is now scheduled over at least the first three days.

The theory behind the French innovation was that the Sunday start represents a good chance to capitalise on the bigger potential TV audiences, not to mention the extra money that can be earned from ticket sales. There has been no talk so far of starting on a Saturday, but logic might suggest that is not far round the corner. This would be feasible as most top players do not compete in the week before a Grand Slam tournament, preferring to hone their games on the practice courts.

Let us hope that is not a road the French – or any of the other Grand Slam tournaments – cares to take. There is a danger of spreading the icing on the cake too thinly. Indeed, there are some people in tennis who think that a fortnight is too long for a tournament anyway.

As is so often the case, Wimbledon leads by example. For example, the All England Club is to be commended for its steadfast refusal to schedule matches on the middle Sunday (although the option to play is always available should the weather intervene). The sliding roof next year will bring its own scheduling issues, but should not fundamentally alter the structure of what remains the world’s greatest tennis tournament.